DK GreenRoots

Even if we prevent coal companies from leveling, deforesting, and polluting much of Appalachia by stopping mountaintop removal mining, coal will still not be clean. Even if we stop the release of greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, coal will still not be clean. Coal-fired power plants produce mountains of combustion waste which have the potential to contaminate ground and surface water with toxic heavy metals like arsenic.

The New York Times had a nice description of the problem:

Promoted by the editors.

The horror is unimaginable. A community suffering severe health effects, with more than a thousand residents blaming coal ash contamination for causing their sickness, including grisly birth defects in their children. This, according to a recent investigative story in the Miami Herald. Go to the article to see a photo of Maximiliano Calcaño, a two-year old boy born with no arms. His mother is quoted: "When I was pregnant, I was dizzy, vomiting and could barely walk. Then my baby was born like that, with no arms."

As reported, a Virginia-based power company, AES Corporation, is blamed for causing these health problems after illegally dumping 160 million pounds of coal ash in the Dominican Republic. The company is accused of hiring a contractor to ship the coal ash -- a byproduct of burning the fossil fuel at power plants -- to Samaná, on the Dominican Republic's Atlantic coast, where it sat for two years. Later, villagers began to complain of children being born with horrible disorders, such as missing limbs or having organs on the outside of their bodies. Last week, a class action lawsuit was filed in a Delaware court alleging AES is responsible for the health problems in Samaná and should be held liable for correcting the situation.